Stanzin Lakdan and Dr Lobzang Stanzen
Agriculture and its allied sectors are the primary sources of living in Ladakh and more than 70% of the population in Leh district is engaged in agriculture according to economic review of Leh district 2014-15. According to district Statistical record, the district has an area of 45167 hectares out of which 10614 hectares has been brought under cultivation of various crops during 2014-15. Whole of the cultivated area is irrigated. Double cropping is undertaken in some parts of Sham Valley. Most of farming community in Leh is uneducated and most of them have followed the traditional system of agriculture and now presence of research institutes like DIHAR (Defence Institute of High Altitude Research), HMAARI (High Mountain Arid Agriculture Research Institute), KVK and CAZRI (Central Arid Zone Research Institute) play a pivot role in providing training to farmers, introduction of new technique, precision farming and green house cultivation. And also the NGO’s like LEHO (Ladakh Environment and Health Organization), LNP (Leh Nutrition Project) and LEDeG (Ladakh Ecological Development Group) play important role in transfer of knowledge from research station to villagers.
Leh district is endowed with tremendous scope for agriculture, with mass migration to Leh city for better employment. Due to tourist boom in Ladakh region thrust should be given on local products widely grown in these places, such as sea buckthorn, apricot , buck wheat, watermelon and pea which has good selling price as cash crops. Farm based agriculture has better employment generation. Apricot Harman variety is sold at the price of Rs.450/kg in local market, watermelon at Rs.40/kg with average size of watermelon of 6 kg and buck wheat which is said to be have anti-cancer properties is sold around Rs.120/kg. Buck wheat is mostly cultivated as second crop in some places of Sham valley. Sea buck thorn which is wildly grown in all parts of Leh district is sold at the price of 150-200/kg. Value additions and marketing of these products and motivating the famers to grow such cash crops help in economic stability of rural area of Leh-Ladakh.
Growing of such crops has great employment potential for the rural youth. Following crops have great scope :-
Sea buckthorn is a dense shrub grown wildly throughout Ladakh. Endowed with tremendous medicinal properties, each part of the plant, the bark, leaves or fruit offers value to the cultivator, while its oil is a high-value product with multiple applications in cosmetic and skin care products industry. It could also provide fuel and the leaves of the plant are used in making green tea rich in flavonoids and antioxidants, while the nutrient-rich fruit can be converted into soft drinks, jams and squashes. Production of sea-buckthorn in Leh is estimated at 12,000 tonnes, only five percent of the produce is being harvested currently with the rest going waste for want of pre and post-harvest technology. Hence, there is a need to devise a package of incentives for making best use of the wild fruit as the extant method of harvesting damages the berry content and the shrub. Besides, the growers are not organized and there is a need for organizing entrepreneurship awareness, development and orientation programmes for those associated with the cultivation, harvesting, processing and marketing of sea buckthorn in Ladakh.
Dried apricot is a type of traditional dried fruit. The world’s largest producer of dried apricots is Turkey and Russia, which are better than us. In Ladakh dried apricot fetches more price than the fresh one. Dried apricot is an important value added product and annually, about 3,000 MT of fresh apricots are processed into dried fruit. However, the traditional drying methods comprising of improper harvesting, drying, and grading techniques result in high level of wastages in processing and degrade quality of the end product. Farmers have been producing apricots for generations; however, they never have been able to get the right value and proper market for their product. As it is a very important item for empowering the local people, we have to organize farmers, the system of cultivation, collection, processing, packaging and marketing, taking an integrated approach.
Watermelon is traditionally not grown in trans-Himalaya region. Marketable fruit yield can be obtained under plastic mulching in open field condition. Fruit is harvested in August-September and thus marketed as off-season fruit. Watermelon was successfully put to trial by DIHAR and successfully cultivated by mulching system cultivated in furrow. By cultivation technique developed by DIHAR. Tata Trusts and partner NGOs distributed the seeds and seedling of watermelon to be cultivated in open fields of villages of Takmachik, Domkhar, Dha and Beema. And average yield from per kanal land is 2 tonnes, which is high as compared to cultivation in plain areas of India and it is more sweeter as compared rest of country. Watermelon fetches good price of Rs. 40/kg. And economic study conducted by Tata Trusts the cost benefit ratio from watermelon is Rs.3.40/- which is very good as compared to rest of crops in Leh-Ladakh.
Buckwheat is grown traditionally in relatively warmer areas of Sham valley of Leh districts, where double-cropping is possible. It is generally grown as the second crop after harvesting of the barley crop. Buckwheat was one of the staple foods of Ladakhi people a few years ago. Nowadays, its cultivation and consumption have reduced drastically. The area under buckwheat in Ladakh has also reduced considerably. Cultivation of buckwheat should encourage as it has great demand in international market because of its anti-cancer properties in it and its selling is Rs.12000/quintal in local market. With improved seed varieties of buckwheat its very economical and boon for farmers to cultivate buck wheat as it growing period is 2 ½ months only and pest infestation is very less because of cool climate during growing season. Buckwheat is in verge of extinction in Leh district so it should very important to let them know about economic benefit of cultivation of buckwheat. And also consumption of buckwheat has great health benefit by Lowering Cholesterol and Blood Pressure Levels, contains Disease-Fighting Antioxidants, provides highly digestible protein, high fiber content , helps Improve digestion, can help Prevent Diabetes, doesn’t Contain Gluten and Is Non-Allergenic and supplies Important Vitamins and Minerals.
Food processing unit and cold storage is needed by farmers of Leh district because most of agriculture production is lost due to lack of pre- and post-harvest practices. We have to create a value-added market and create a big market presence for agriculture produce of Leh district. As agriculture is a very important item for empowering the local people, we have to organize farmers, the system of cultivation, collection, processing, packaging and marketing, taking an integrated approach.
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